Striking Writers Head to Capitol Hill

Striking writers headed
to Washington, D.C. today to meet with members of Congress and to raise awareness of the writers' strike. Writers from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report and The West Wing and members of the WGA East appeared in a mock debate chaired by former
White House spokesperson Dee Dee Meyers.

Using the format of a fake political debate between the writers and the movie studios, moderated by former White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers, the writers got in a couple of zingers on the gathered lawmakers.

--On coming before Congress: "We saw Charlie Wilson's War last night and are a little disappointed by the lack of strippers that we've seen here."

-- On the writers strike: "It would cost Paramount a total of $4.6 million to give the writers everything they're asking for. That's half the amount it would take to get Reese Witherspoon into a movie. Now, I ask you, what's more important to a movie: a script or half of Reese Witherspoon?"
Another of the writers quipped: "Which half?"

The fake debate even had its own fake pink T-shirted protester disrupting the event, whose disruption was disrupted by a fake green T-shirted protester.

Lawmakers showed their own sense of humor, with Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., donning a long black beard before coming to the lectern, saying she was growing a beard in solidarity with the writers, as late night talk show host David Letterman did briefly.

The WGA is now informally negotiating again with the AMPTP, with the hope that formal negotiations can resume soon.